The Balkan Battery Day conference, organized by Invest In Network under the leadership and dedicated coordination of Inessa Shahnazarova, Founder and Executive Director of Invest In Network, was successfully held on Thursday, 21 May 2026 at the ZEUS Wyndham Grand Athens Hotel.
The event brought together leading stakeholders from across Southeast Europe’s energy sector, including investors, developers, policymakers, technology providers, financial institutions and market analysts, highlighting the rapidly growing importance of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) for the future of the region’s energy transition.
Balkan Battery Day attracted strong participation from the regional business and investment community and served as an important platform for dialogue on the opportunities and challenges associated with energy storage deployment in Southeast Europe. Discussions focused on the need for increased system flexibility, the strengthening of electricity grids and balancing mechanisms, as well as the evolving investment landscape surrounding storage technologies.
Mr. Nikos Sofianos, Secretary General and Chairman of the RES Committee of the Institute expertly moderated the first panel discussion at the conference, entitled: “BESS Market Outlook Across the Region”.
The panel featured distinguished experts and senior executives from the regional energy industry, including:
- Alastair Hammond, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Rezolv Energy
- Dr Evangelos Gazis, Head of Southeast Europe at Aurora Energy Research
- Gabriel Nenov, Head of Energy Storage Systems at Solarpro Holding
- George Chronaios, Head of Investments and Market Intelligence at Principia Energy
The discussion addressed several key themes concerning the future of storage markets in Southeast Europe, including BESS market readiness and deployment timelines, the gap between announced project pipelines and actual delivery reality, national strategies and regional differences, investor appetite and the advantages currently enjoyed by early market participants.
Particular emphasis was placed on the remarkable growth of renewable energy investments over the last 10 years in countries such as Greece, Bulgaria and Romania, as well as on the increasingly central role of storage technologies in supporting grid stability, renewable integration and energy market flexibility. Panelists also highlighted that despite the strong momentum surrounding BESS deployment, important structural challenges remain, including grid bottlenecks, permitting procedures, financing conditions, market design evolution and the need for stronger regional interconnections and balancing mechanisms.
The discussion further explored broader strategic issues linked to the future of energy systems in Southeast Europe, including price volatility, negative pricing events, revenue sustainability for storage assets and the necessity for parallel investments in transmission infrastructure, digitalisation, demand response and regional market integration.
A key conclusion emerging from the panel was that while battery storage will undoubtedly play a critical role in the energy transition, it cannot by itself resolve the deeper structural weaknesses of regional electricity systems. The successful transformation of Southeast Europe’s energy sector will require coordinated investments in grids, interconnections, market reform, flexibility solutions and system resilience.
The Balkan Battery Day conference confirmed the growing strategic importance of Southeast Europe in the evolving European energy landscape and demonstrated the increasing interest of regional and international investors in the rapidly expanding energy storage market of the Balkans.
